Hera
Hera was one of the eleven nations in Voldrania, and the fourth major settlement to be founded. Hera is most infamous for being the result of colonization by exile John Ghern, as well as the first nation in Voldrania formed with a monarchy. Hera was also known for waging the lands first war, and would later become a major political time bomb. __TOC__ Political tension and Hugafia Arrival When the settlers arrived in Voldrania, Adam Akarvon was initially elected the leader of the colonists, and the settlement they founded: Akarv. Akarv was built up as a Republic, and Akarvon was its largest sponsor, not wanting a repeat of the bloodshed caused by, what he believed, to be the tyranny of the Old World. For the most part, this was a popular concept that most accepted. However, within a few years, politician John Ghern began to push for a transition to a monarchy modeled after those in the Old World, claiming inefficiency from the Republic. Akarvon disagreed, ignoring Ghern. Even when a large group of supporters began to protest in Ghern's favor, Akarvon would not budge. Because of this, these supporters eventually turned to guerrilla terrorism, which was mostly held off by a makeshift militia. In 8 AE Ghern, who had secretly been leading the terrorists, was finally captured, and he and his followers were exiled from Akarv and Equis. Ghern, seeing that he would be killed if he tried to seek revenge, complied. Exile For three years, Ghern and his supporters wandered, eventually taking to the sea, and in 11 AE, they settled in a desolate desert region, on a contient yet untouched by Akarv or Equis. For eight years after this, Ghern led his outpost as the monarch he had pushed for. In 19 AE, Ghern settled upon the name "Hera" for their outpost, planning a rise to power and strike against Akarv in the coming years. However, in 20 AE, Ghern perished, and left the throne to his daughters husband, Thomas Hugafia. Thomas Hugafia The second ruler of Hera, Hugafia was arguably much more influential in the rise of Hera as a nation in its infancy. Pre-War When Hugafia became the ruler of Hera, he quickly proved to be a much more fierce monarch, and was responsible for outwards expansion, mostly to the north. He ruled harshly, and paid little attention to his wife, Kathleen Ghern, or step daughter, Amelia Ghern. In 23 AE, what Hera perceived to be small scale colonization to the east turned out to be the major settlement Tripoly, which had just established a democratic government similar to that of Akarv and Equis. Upon receiving this news, Hugafia became enraged, and threatened retribution of the "invaders" didn't leave the continent "Ghern" immediately. Tripoly, however, obviously refused to comply with Hera's demands, and the Republics of Primaria refused to recognize Hera's legitimacy. In his rage, Hugafia began small strikes against Tripoly, thought not enough to indicate any sort of realistic threat. However, at the end of year twenty-five, Hugafia ordered a full invasion of Tripoly, making good on his threats. The Heran-Tripolian War The Heran-Tripolian war was a short lived war between Hera and Tripoly, and later Akarv and Yoren. Hugafia led from afar for the first year of the war, not seeing the need for him to risk his own status by engaging in combat, despite the relative failure of the war. While Hera persisted, Tripoly proved surprisingly resistant to their advances, and the two were locked in a stalemate. That was until late year twenty-six when a surprise victory on Hera's side led to a powerful foothold in Tripolian territory, allowing for the Herans to slowly push on. Hera was pushed back by Akarv and Yoren before it could reach the heart of the Tripolian settlement, however. In a last-ditch effort, Hugafia personally joined the fight against his democratic rivals, but was killed in battle, marking the end of the war. Kathleen Ghern and the end of the Monarchy Akarv quickly occupied Hera, alone, and helped to influence the rise of Kathleen Ghern to power. Though she was still the monarch, she was popular with the Herans, and would not be as hostile as Hugafia was. Her rise to power, as well as the marriage of her daughter, Amelia Ghern, to Akarv's leading general, Alexander Zen, marked the technical recognition of Hera as a nation, in year twenty-nine. The Great Earthquake For the next seven years, Hera remained quiet, Kathleen Ghern wanting only to promote her nations inner growth and welfare, rather than deal with the issues of the world. However, in year thirty-six, Kathleen Ghern and much of the public left Ghernia, the capital city, to visit Tripoly for a planned celebration of the ten year anniversary of the war. During this time, a massive quake rattled Ghern, being felt as far away as Primaria. The epicenter was the city of Ghernia itself, and when the Herans returned, they found a fissure had swallowed much of the city. As support was brought in from all over the world, many of the grief-stricken Herans left Hera and moved to Tripoly or other nearby nations. Kathleen Ghern, though, continued to push for the reconstruction of the city, and of the nations spirit. The End of the Monarchy In year thirty-nine, while Ghernia was still being rebuilt atop the now covered crater, Kathleen Ghern, along with her daughter and step-son, made the choice to discard the nations current government, and reformed it in the image of the Republics seen in Akarv or Tripoly. Despite the shift, Ghern remained in power, being elected as the nations first prime minister. However, she remained very quiet for the eight years she served, allowing the newly elected Senate do much of the governing. Amelia Zen In 47 AE, eight years after Kathleen Ghern influenced the shift from monarchy to Republic in Hera, she died. Stricken by tragedy yet again at the loss of their long time leader, the Herans quickly elected her daughter, Amelia Zen, as Prime Minister, in the hope that she would bring a similar national pride with her. Hera in the Near War Amelia Zen was notable for leading Hera during the Near War between Akarv and Fallnavor. While officially neutral, Zen favored the democratic system, and thus lended unofficial, vocal, support to Akarv and its allies. Many Herans saw the same way, but many also pressured her to take a side. One of the most significant of these Herans was Undek Mag, who pressured her to favor Fallnavor. Eventually, when Fallnavor began to secretly approach nations in order to gain their support in removing Akarv from the Council, Fallnavor approached Hera with caution, and never explicitly made the request for Hera's vote, weary of what she, or her husband, a former Akarvian, may do if she declined. However, Zen did not acknowledge Fallnavor, and requested they take whatever it was they wanted back into their own territory, effectively denying Fallnavor's offer. Final years in power As the Near War intensified, Zen also began to notice an increase in activity from the Nightcrawlers in Hera, so much that entire towns began to succumb to their threat. Lost in how to respond, Zen made a highly controversial move in passing legislation that required most Heran citizens living in smaller, unguarded areas to move either to Ghernia or one of the more protected areas. As the population of Ghernia skyrocketed, pressures on Zen began to skyrocket as well. Several guilds began to form in the capital city, all of which tried to influence their own agenda, and religious extremist Undek Mag continued to push his policies on Zen. Alexander Zen took on the burden of the outside pressures, and the couples combined leadership was enough to keep Hera running relatively smoothly. In 57 AE, though, Alexander Zen passed away, leaving Amelia completely vulnerable. Insensitive to her grief, Mag and the guilds doubled their pressures, hoping she'd break. What they got instead was Zen steeping down, leading to a new series of Heran drama. The Heran Revolutions and Military Involvement Yenklet Lupice With Amelia Zen's resignation in 57 AE, and the lack of her husband to replace her, an election was hastily organized. The goblin Yenklet Lupice was elected into power, the first leader in Hera in no way related to John Ghern. One of Lupice's first moves was changing his title from Prime Minister to Steward, feeling it to be a more appropriate title. Lupice made quick friends with Adam Pyro, and the two nations were nearly close allies. However, while Lupice was in power, anti-Primarian propoganda began to arise in Ghernia, and many Herans came to resent Akarv especially, opening wounds that had been closed for decades. This anti-Primarian sentiment was multiplied intensely when an expedition into Eirros led to the death of an Heran by the hands of an Equivian officialy, who had been possessed by a Nether Spirit. Lupice especially became enraged at Equis, and Akarv for protecting them. He didn't declare war, however, and maintained shaky, but friendly, relations with Akarv as the Ghernian war started. All the while, though, Lupice petitioned the Council for justice against Equis. Lupice's lack of success in prosecuting Equis, especially, lowered his public popularity, and when the election of the following year, 58 AE, came, he did very poorly. The One Month Revolution In 58 AE, Yenklet Lupice was voted out of power by the Heran public in favor of religious extremist Undek Mag, who had lately gathered massive amounts of support, politically and religiously. Mag almost immediately dropped relations with Akarv and declared war on Equis, making good on his campaign promises, while simultaneously converting the nation to a theocracy behind the publics back. In response to Hera's aggression, Equis was joined by Akarv, Fallnavor and Eirros in forcing their way into Ghernia to prevent another war. The Death of Lupice Two days after Mag declared war on Equis, Yenklet Lupice, who had been appointed captain of the guard due to his influence over Hera's army, attempted a coup to remove Mag from power, despite having wanted revenge on Equis as well. However, Mag had begun to build up forces loyal to him and him alone, and Lupice was killed by Mag's archers. His death caused a near immediate retreat of his forces, which made up most of Hera's defense. Now defenseless and wounded, the Heran public began to plot a revolution of their own. Inker Poker However, only hours after Lupice was killed, a netherrack fortress which had been spotted outside of Hera descended into the city, and troops immediately swarmed out of it. Despite orders from Mag, the population did not fight against them, and Mag proceeded to flee. However, the following morning, he was captured by the invading airships, and both Mag and the majority of his followers were thrown into the Heran crater. When the dust settled, the leader of the invaders was revealed to be Inker Poker, a former Heran warlord who had left Hera the previous year, along with his army. Poker was put into power, and he claimed to be in favor of a return to a Republic. The Calvary Arrives At the end of the following week, Akarv, Fallnavor, Equis, and Eirrosian vessels entered the skies over Ghernia, and demanded those responsible for the chaos present themselves. Poker proceeded to approach the four nations, but was trusted little by them, and tensions quickly arose as warning shots were fired, especially by Eirros who demanded the destruction of the Netherrack fortress. After tense negotiations, the four nations agreed to allow Poker reform the nation, though on the condition they would all be watching closely, trusting him little for his reputation. Eirros itself stayed in Hera several more weeks, nearly bringing Hera and Eirros to war over the netherrack fortress, which Poker eventually agreed to remove from the city. Involvement in the Ghernian War Despite being technical allies with Akarv and Fallnavor in the war, the Heran revolutions had left them as irrelevant in the fighting. By the time Poker came into power, the war was begining to near its end. In an act of goodwill, Poker allowed Akarvian forces to utilize Heran settlements along the Tripolian border to gain a tactical advantage. However, as Akarv and Fallnavor made a last stand against Zade Zen and Cali Pox's armies in Fallnavor, Poker was revealed to have been organizing a move in secrecy, which became labeled "Operation Vagrant", in which Hera invaded and took the capital of Tripoly, with relative ease, successfully rendering them useless to continue the fight as their leader fell. Post War Tension However, in taking the capital of Tripoly, Hera also moved to occupy Tripoly in the aftermath of the war. During their brief solo occupation, Hera influenced the rise of Zarkan Zen, the brother of Zade Zen, to power, entrusting him to be a peaceful leader to rebuild. Meanwhile, Akarv had signed a treaty with Tripoly that allowed Akarv to occupy the nation as well, without Hera's knowledge. This resulted in a brief tangle between the two nations governments, which led to greater resentment between their publics, but ultimately nothing would come of this. Hera's Final Days In 60 AE, the same year Voldrania fell, Hera began to fall apart, and would eventually completely dissolve, and disappear. In the beginning of 60 AE, Poker resigned as president of Hera, and allowed his Vice President, Gremlin Slae, to take over. However, soon after Herans Lord Halberd and The Goblin Scribe revealed evidence that Slae was working with Lord Geod, an Heran noble, to lead an attack on Ghernia, for reasons unknown. Soon after, Slae went missing. A month later, Geod and Slae returned, leading an army of Nightcrawlers into the city. Hera had reinstated its militia in preparation for this, and Geod and Slae were eventually slain inside of the crater. The aftermath of that battle, on top of the knowledge of increasing Netheran activity, proved to be too much for the Herans, and fearing death, they all began to move onto ships and silently sail away, to the ignorance of the other nations until the majority were already gone. Not long after, the Void Devourer succeeded in doing enough damage to the void to force the Voldranians to flee. The fate of the Herans is unknown, but they are believed to have returned to the Old World, in an attempt to settle down in safety. Cities *Ghernia, the capital of Hera and home to most of its population, after Amelia Zen's decision to move the population inside its walls for protection. The city is infamous for being built over a large fissure, known as the "Well of Bones". *Hugafia, a city on the northern coast of Hera that was completely destroyed by a flood some time after its foundation. Category:Nations Category:Voldranian Nations Category:Hera